


Inferno : A Produce X 101 story

by xxExpensiveGurlxx



Category: K-pop, MYTEEN (Band), Produce 101 (TV), UP10TION, VICTON (Band)
Genre: Angst and Romance, Betrayal, Death, Gen, M/M, Mystery, Romance, Survival, Thriller, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-06-22 20:23:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19679185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxExpensiveGurlxx/pseuds/xxExpensiveGurlxx
Summary: The boys find themselves in an arena they hold no recognition of and memories they hold no recollection of, later to find out that the arena asks for only one thing: kill or get killed.





	1. Chapter One

When his vision regains consistency and the ache in his temples subsides, a different feeling of hollow settles at the pit of his stomach as he finds himself at a place he holds no recognition of, an area stretched over as far as his eyes could make out, mixing with the bright blue hue of the cloudless sky, with small shelter like structures scattered here and there, each one lined with huge trees, the leaves strikingly green.

Movements in his periphery alerts him, instinctively making him stand on his feet and hold a defensive posture as he turns towards the direction of motion.

He sees a boy holding his hair and pulling it with all his might while repeating the word 'stop' over and over again.

The settling hollow at his stomach deepens when he looks around and sees multiple boys across the area, some unconscious, some groaning, some looking around with the same expression of fright as him.

"Please," his attention gets back on the boy who's still on the ground, body crawling into a ball, "stop."

He takes a skeptical step towards the boy, taking a closer look. He notices that the boy has his eyes closed and is noticeably shivering.

"It's hurting."

He hears him say. "It's hurting so bad, please stop."

He takes another step towards the boy, and then another, the reluctance in his movements clearly evident. He lowers himself down slightly and extends his hand to touch the arm of the boy.

He gets no alarming reaction, after which he holds both of the boy's arms trying to steady him as he says, "open your eyes."

The boy doesn't do so, seeing which he exerts more force to hold him and says in a much louder voice, "open your eyes!"

The boy suddenly opens his eyes, and takes a sharp intake of breath, with his eyes rolling to the back before he starts to calm down, his breathing still ragged. He shuts his eyes, pushing down hard before opening them and trying to adjust his vision.

The boy slowly let's go of his hair, feeling the grip on his arms. His breaths become moderately calm, his gaze lying on something on the neck of the guy who's still holding his arms to steady.

"Kim Yohan."

Yohan's grip loosens slightly on the boy as the name hits a sense of familiarity. Surprise and confusion mixes with his already frightened expression seeing which the boy points towards the left side of his neck. "It's on there."

Yohan visibly sighs when he hears the boy speak calmly, stepping back and helping the boy to sit up.

While he does so, he notices that the boy has something written on his neck too.

"Song Hyeongjun."

"Yes?"

Hyeongjun acts a little too fast on his instinctual reply, as the two of them realise that their names are -Yohan takes a closer look at it- in fact tattooed on their necks with dark purple ink.

A sudden scream sounds, making Yohan and Hyeongjun turn towards the direction, Yohan's gaze meeting another guy's before helping Hyeongjun get up on his feet and moving towards the same direction with the other boys around.

A small crowd forms around the two boys fighting -more like the guy on top attacking while the one underneath screaming for help.

Nobody steps in. Everyone being highly skeptical and anxious of the situation itself, let alone meddle with the one-sided fight.

The one being attacked lets out another menacing cry, which ends with a whiff of coughs, blood running down the corner of his mouth and the side of his face significantly swelling. A few voices try stepping in because of how inhumane the hits are, but seeing the attacker be so beastly makes them reluctant.

However, one boy decides otherwise and lunges himself towards the guy on top, hitting him on the side of his head, wrapping his arm around his neck while his legs wrap around the guy's abdomen.

That momentarily restricts the attacker's movement, taking which as a cue, others jump on to hold down the attacker.

Hyeongjun runs towards the injured lying still on the ground. There's blood on his temple, also clogging his mouth as one of his eyes is blackened and shut. Hyeongjun's arm gets pulled by Yohan, practically dragging him away from the guy, his name -Lee Midam; bright red- glows on the side of his neck.

Yohan looks back at the attacker, the ones holding him back looking at the said guy, his name -Yoon Seobin; bright green- glows on the side of his neck.

A thunder sounds, so loud that the sky feels like tearing itself into half, a huge black raven accompanied by a white one appears out of nowhere, attracting the attention of everyone on site, except Hyeongjun who's still looking at the bright red Lee Midam on his neck.

The two ravens slow down and settle on one of the hugest trees in the area, following which a huge fabric screen rolls down the lowest branch, with writings in black.

One of the boys next to Yohan -Lee Jinhyuk- walks briskly towards the screen, some following him shortly, while some stay grounded where they are.

Jinhyuk stands a few feet away from the screen as he looks up at the two birds, sitting still, almost like stone sculptures. He feels someone stand next to him, turning towards which he sees Kim Wooseok looking at him with a concerned gaze, as if asking him to not move any further.

With a nod of reassurance, Jinhyuk turns towards the screen, the heading itself making his hands cold.

'Welcome to Inferno!'

The added exclamation mark at the end makes him even more aggrieved.

'The show has started. You will be given some tasks to perform. All you have to do is compete and win. The winner is confirmed when his name glows a bright green. As for the loser, it is bright red.

The final eleven surviving are collectively announced as the winners. The rest are eliminated.

It is as simple as it sounds.

Impressively, you have exceeded our expectations within the first few moments of your presence here. We hope to see even better results.

Until the next update.'

A scoff sounds some feet behind Wooseok, a small visible frown forms between his eyebrows.

"Wow," someone says, probably the one with the scoff, making Wooseok turn back to look at him -Song Yuvin, "they really expect us to believe this?" he points towards the screen, looking upwards as his eyes go over the text for the second time, the scoff making a return, "is this a hidden camera?"

Yuvin looks around him, at all the petrified and hesitant faces, "which one of you is the crew member? Can we just get over this shitty prank already? I need to go back home and..."

The colour from his face drains.

He doesn't remember what he was doing before he woke up at this unreasonably bright arena. He doesn't remember his address, or his family, his friends.

He doesn't even remember his name.

There's an extreme ache at his temple, making his vision dot with black spots, his knees buckling as he falls to the ground, the ones around him rushing to help him.

Yohan watches the commotion from a distance, while some run towards the said direction.

"Yohan."

He sees the black ink against the screen disappear, a moment later where new writing appears, the characters not readable from his position.

"Yohan."

He doesn't turn back to look at Hyeongjun as he calls his name for the second time, his eyes still at the crowd in front of him quieting down as soon as something new appears on the screen. "Yeah?"

Since Hyeongjun doesn't reply anything to his 'yeah', Yohan turns back.

Hyeongjun is crouched next to the injured -Midam- his eyes on the side of Midam's neck.

The bright red has turned to black.

\--

At the same time, Jinhyuk immediately turns back and starts running towards Lee Midam as he sees a picture of the injured boy across the huge screen with the word 'eliminated' below it.

\--

Yohan lowers himself slightly to hold Hyeongjun's arm and pull him back and away from Midam for the second time, but stops a moment short when he hears Hyeongjun speak.

\--

Wooseok is looking at Yuvin, more specifically to the side of his neck, his name glowing a bright navy blue, while the boys around Yuvin are trying even harder to help him, the blue making them even more desperate.

Two new words get added to the screen below the word 'eliminated'.

_Status: Dead_

\--

Jinhyuk is next to Midam as he places his fingers in front of his nose. Noticing he has stopped breathing, Jinhyuk presses down on his chest, afterwards lowering his mouth to blow air into the airway.

He checks if there's a shift in Midam's chest, but there's none.

Moving to press down on his chest again, Jinhyuk yells since no one comes to help him. "Why aren't you guys doing anything?"

Yohan takes a step back and then another, while asking Hyeongjun not to react to anything for the time being, and runs towards the crowd around Yuvin.

"There's no use," everybody, except Jinhyuk, looks towards the voice, the source being the attacker -Yoon Seobin- while the one still holding him back -Lee Hangyul- takes a sharp breath, tightening his hold on Seobin, "he's already dead."

Jinhyuk stops, he sees no movement in Midam's chest, even his pulse stopping, while Jinhyuk's own heart rate increases as he falls back and horror fills his nerves, his own hands cold and face pale. The sound of Yuvin screaming in the background adds to the monstrosity of the situation as the boys realise that the arena asks for only one thing: kill or get killed.


	2. Chapter Two.

"Make him open his eyes!"  
  
Yohan had yelled some time back, pointing towards Yuvin, his eyes at the glowing blue. The ones around Yuvin had tried their best, screaming for him to keep his eyes open, holding him down, some even physically forcing his eyelids up.  
  
Yuvin had opened his eyes, the ache subsequently lowering down as he had struggled to take as much air in as possible.   
  
Now that he is looking at Yohan, Wooseok's feeling towards him grows slightly anxious. He wonders, how does Yohan know about the keep-the-eyes-open rule.  
  
Yohan holds Wooseok's gaze, making Wooseok grow a little more skeptical, as if probing him.  
  
Wooseok doesn't look away.   
  
Yohan does, as he turns on his feet to go back to the crowd around, now eliminated -and dead- Lee Midam. Wooseok watches him walk towards the crowd, pulling a particular curly haired boy by his arm, to which the said boy doesn't even hesitate or protest against for once, walking away from the crowd.  
  
\--  
  
Lee Hangyul's hold loosens around Seobin, his posture gets hunched, arms lying idly by his side. There's a small gasp from someone when he speaks, knowing full well who those words are aimed at. "You killed him."  
  
Seobin pulls himself up from the ground, his hands bruised and bleeding, looking at Jinhyuk who has a lone tear sliding down his cheek as he watches the black Lee Midam.   
  
"I saved myself."  
  
The next moment, Hangyul is on his feet and his fist across Seobin's face, the latter looses his footing as Hangyul grabs the front of his shirt. "You killed him!"  
  
Hangyul's vision gets blurred for a moment when Seobin hits his forehead against Hangyul's, making Hangyul lose his grip on his shirt, following which Seobin pushes him back.   
  
"I'd have been killed if I hadn't taken him down!" Seobin charges towards Hangyul, hitting him at his abdomen, "and I don't want to be killed!"   
  
"Enough with the hits, Seobin," Jinhyuk feels someone crouch down next to him, placing his hand over Jinhyuk's shoulder, while Seobin stops midway and pushes Hangyul back as if to say that he doesn't want to fight anyone anymore.  
  
"You don't remember anything?" Seobin asks, making Hangyul look up at him, dread and confusion in his eyes, "at all?"   
  
"Seobin, stop."  
  
Seobin walks closer to Hangyul, grabbing his upper arm, "seriously? You don't?" The latter's face laces with more dread as he looks into Seobin's eyes, anger and frustration evident.  
  
"I told you to stop." Jinhyuk turns towards the boy next to him who has a commanding tone to his voice as he tells Seobin to stop for the second time, the name Han Seungwoo on his neck.  
  
When Seobin lets go of Hangyul's arm, he scoffs mockingly. "You said I killed Midam while you did the exact same thing to one of my teammates. You considered him to be your friend, but you killed him anyway!"  
  
\--  
  
Yohan pushes open the door to a shelter, Hyeongjun standing at the entrance as his eyes go over the space. Three box beds line each of the walls except the one with the door, a small table directly next to the door, an alarm clock on it, only that the time is stopped at three past three. There's no window or ventilation in the room except one directly above the door.  
  
"This one is yours," Yohan points towards the bed on Hyeongjun's left, "I sleep on this one," he points towards Hyeongjun's right, taking a closer step to the bed directly in front of the door, lowering himself down, "and this belongs to someone named Kim Mingyu."  
  
Hyeongjun takes a step inside, and then another, "what's this for?"  
  
Yohan turns back to see Hyeongjun looking at the clock, "I don't know."  
  
Hyeongjun nods, his fingertips touching the edge of the table, "do you know this place?"  
  
"No," he doesn't look at Yohan when he hears Yohan answer, "I'm trusting my gut and my instincts."  
  
Hyeongjun doesn't say anything to that as the light inside the shelter gets obstructed by a figure standing at the entrance, making him along with Yohan turn and look.  
  
"I was told to find my shelter," the boy is slightly out of breath as he looks at the two with restlessness lining his posture, "I'm Kim Mingyu."   
  
Yohan nods, "the one in the middle is yours."  
  
Mingyu walks in as he slightly bows at Yohan and then at Hyeongjun, "nice to meet you."  
  
Hyeongjun watches Mingyu as he walks over to his bed and sits down, wriggling his toes, stretching a bit before lying back on the bed, a little frown appears between Hyeongjun's eyebrows.  
  
He seems a little too relaxed, Yohan notes, following which he asks, "do you know this place?"  
  
Mingyu looks at Yohan and shakes his head, "no."  
  
Hyeongjun opens his mouth to say something but gets interrupted by Yohan, who looks at Hyeongjun briefly before looking back at Mingyu, "you seem a little unbothered by this place and the death that just happened."  
  
Mingyu touches the side of his neck, more specifically his name, before resting his hand on his chest, "I'm going to die anyway," the bluntness in his answer makes Hyeongjun frown more, "like Lee Midam. There's no way I'm going to survive until only eleven, so, what's the point of getting anxious and dreaded of a situation I have no control over?"  
  
"In short, you're giving up."  
  
Mingyu looks at the tin ceiling overhead, Hyeongjun's words scratching at the back of his mind.  
  
"You have no intention of making your way out of this place and going back to your family and friends."  
  
Mingyu feels his heartbeat escalate as his face contorts into something sad. "I don't even know if I have a family, or friends," he pushes his elbow on the bed to push himself up into a sitting position, staring straight at Hyeongjun, "for all I know, the world outside might be worse than this."  
  
Hyeongjun crosses his arms under his chest as he holds Mingyu's gaze. "For all you know, the world outside might be better than this too."  
  
"I would rather get killed than kill someone else because of an assumption that the world outside might be better."   
  
"That's what survival is."  
  
"Imagine having to live with the knowledge that you killed innocent people in a hope for an outside world you know nothing about."  
  
"Your point is not valid at an arena where the main motto is death."  
  
"At an arena like this, you either die innocent or a murderer."  
  
"You've made up your mind that you're going to die. What else can I say other than that you're a coward?"  
  
"If that's what you call someone who refuses to kill people, sure."  
  
The tension between them continues to build, as the quiet Hyeongjun and the nonchalant Mingyu give their take on the situation, not really trying to understand the other's perspective, Mingyu at a moment getting up from the bed and charging towards Hyeongjun, until Yohan steps in and literally stands in front of Hyeongjun and places his hands up in front, blocking him from the taller boy  
  
"Enough," Yohan turns around when Mingyu stops a step away from him, "you," he looks at Hyeongjun and turns back again to look at Mingyu, "and you will have to respect how the other comprehends the situation. You can't shame people who are trying to survive and get out of this shithole, and," he turns around again to look at Hyeongjun, " you can't call him a coward because he doesn't want to take someone's life and would rather get hurt than hurt others."  
  
"Rather get hurt than hurt others?" Hyeongjun mutters, "didn't seem like it."  
  
"Oh shut up Hyeongjun," Yohan says, "you're speaking too much."  
  
Mingyu lets out a muffled cough suppressing a small chuckle. "You too," he looks at Yohan when he speaks, "shut up."  
  
\--  
  
"Every shelter has three beds," Han Seungwoo says to the crowd around him, "each bed has their owner's name carved on them. The tree with the screen is the community centre. A hooter always goes off at ten in the night. Come to the community centre when you hear it," he stops for a moment when he sees Jinhyuk walking away from the crowd, posture defeated, "and never hesitate to help the people around. We are all we have got."


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and so is suggestion. Feedback means a lot to the writing community, so do drop something that you've wanted to say regarding this story! 💕

Cha Junho is sprawled across his bed when a hooter sounds, the door to his shelter open, daylight illuminating the inside.  
  
Remembering Han Seungwoo's words, Junho gets up, stepping outside, contemplating if it's ten in the night already, the daylight as bright as the noon.  
  
When he had entered the shelter earlier, Junho crouched down to read the name of the two other boys, namely Kang Minhee and Yoon Junghwan, waiting for them to show up.  
  
But, they never did.  
  
He sees some more faces coming out of their shelters too, confused as well. He closes the door behind him and starts walking towards the community centre, where he sees Seungwoo and Seobin standing, with someone else, the three of them engrossed in what seems like a conversation very serious.  
  
Seobin is the first one to notice Junho, nodding at him in acknowledgement, making Junho swallow down an invisible lump down his throat.  
  
"I saved myself."  
  
Seobin's words repeat itself, Junho stopping in his track as he stares at Seobin. He knows that Seobin noticed, in fact all of them noticed. But he can not get over the image of Seobin getting beastly, and eventually killing, Lee Midam, the image itself giving him goosebumps, his stomach dropping.  
  
"Come here," the new one gestures, friendliness in his posture, his tone comforting.  
  
Seungwoo places his hand on Seobin's back, as a sign of consolation, the hostile behaviour towards him making Seungwoo sympathetic.  
  
The number of boys starts increasing around the three within some time, every face etched with dread, frustration and grief.  
  
Seungwoo's eyes go over each one of them, as if mentally ticking a checklist. "Three are missing," he says to the crowd, "does anyone know who they are?"  
  
The boys look among themselves, Seungwoo's eyes on one specific boy, "does anyone know who are missing?" Wooseok holds Seungwoo's gaze, not faltering for even a moment, the question seemingly aimed at Wooseok for some reason.  
  
"Kim Yohan," someone says from the crowd, "the one who said to make Yuvin open his eyes."  
  
Seungwoo is still looking at Wooseok when the relatively new face -Cho Seungyeon- says, "let's wait for them then."  
  
Some time later, Junho hears two voices argue, while another one try to quiet them down, which makes him turn around and look. He sees a curly haired boy say "right, and you couldn't have told us about this meeting earlier?" to which the tall boy replies, "I wouldn't have forgotten about this have you not started arguing with me," to which the third boy says, "can you two shut up and hurry? We're already late and-"  
  
The third boy stops when he sees Junho looking at them, a little flustered, muttering something under his breath and sprinting the last few steps towards the crowd.  
  
Junho reads his neck.  
  
Kim Yohan.  
  
The other two reach too, the curly haired boy being Song Hyeongjun while the tall boy being Kim Mingyu.  
  
"Now that all thirty seven of you are here," Seungyeon says, "let us begin, yeah?"  
  
Junho, along with the crowd, watches Seobin walk to the back of the tree, a moment after which a loud sound of stone moving against stone echoes through the entire arena, the sound loud enough to drown any other person screaming at the top of their lungs.  
  
Han Seungwoo and Cho Seungyeon don't even flinch, and surprisingly, neither do Kim Wooseok and Kim Yohan, Junho notices.  
  
Once the arena gets quiet, Seungyeon asks the crowd to follow them, walking behind the tree. As the boys walk closer to the tree trunk, they realise that it's not wood, but stone.  
  
There's an opening at the back, standing in front of which is Seobin, letting Seungyeon, and then Seungwoo to walk in first, while some, not all, follow hesitantly.  
  
"If they gather us in there," Hyeongjun says, "it's easy mass murder," making the one in front of him stop abruptly.  
  
"You're right," Hyeongjun reads the name -Choi Byungchan- as he listens to him speak, "why are we blindly following them anyway?"  
  
The next moment is a blur of Yohan pushing Hyeongjun out of his way as he grabs Byungchan by his arms, noticing the change in the colour of his name, "keep your eyes open no matter what!"  
  
Byungchan's legs go weak as a searing ache settles in his temple, the faint sound of Yohan yelling to keep his eyes open reaches him. He tries, but the pain gets worse as his arms feel numb, his legs numb too.  
  
His gut feels like they're being scratched at with something sharp, his vision completely black, the sound of people yelling still audible.  
  
"Make him lie on his back and press down on his chest. Keep his eyelids forcefully open. Someone hold his legs down to stop him from trembling."  
  
Byungchan hears someone say, a moment later which he feels something push down on his chest, the excruciating pain he feels from it indescribable, but immediately the moment later, he feels a drop in the overall ache in his body.  
  
Another force on his chest, and his gut stops getting scratched.  
  
The voices get clear, as his vision suddenly regains consistency, his body working hard to get as much air in as possible.  
  
"His name is back to purple."  
  
The first person he sees once his vision focuses is Han Seungwoo, standing a few steps away as he stares at the boy on the ground, eyes sad for a moment before he walks away from his vision.  
  
"You alright?" Mingyu asks, extending his arm to help Byungchan sit up.  
  
Yohan has his eyes on Wooseok, seeing how he ran all the way over when he realised that keeping his eyes open was not helping and suggesting the other group of actions.  
  
"Get moving, everyone," Seungyeon says, drawing attention and disturbed frowns towards him, "we have things to discuss."  
  
Mingyu looks away from Seungyeon defeatedly, helping Byungchan to his feet, "you'll be able to walk? Do you want me to carry you?" to which Byungchan shakes his head and tells Mingyu that he can walk.  
  
As the boys walk inside, they find themselves in a hall multiple times the size of the shelters, leaving them dumbfounded as to how is it even possible to have such a huge area inside a mere tree trunk.  
  
There's a huge clock to the opposite of the entrance, the time displaying twenty seven past ten. To the right, there are four racks of food and water, the basic included in the food aspect, to the left is a medium sized glass cabinet, with things like gauge and syringe and solutions inside, which is probably the first aid sector.  
  
To the rear of the left, nearing the adjacent wall with the clock, are the weapons.  
  
Knives and spears of all shapes and sizes line the cabinet, with ropes on the low, all seeming not at all primary.  
  
"This is the community centre," Seungyeon's voice echoes, "we have food on your right, first aid and weapon on your left. The aim of this arena is survival, and these are what you need for the said."  
  
"What do you mean by survival?" Junho looks to his left to see a boy -Son Dongpyo- ask, making Seungyeon answer.  
  
"Survival means not being dead."  
  
"You mean we will have to kill others to survive?" Dongpyo asks, eyes automatically moving towards Seobin, which makes Seobin look away from the crowd and at the clock, to avoid the gazes of blatant blaming.  
  
"Let me tell you something," Seungwoo steps in, the commanding tone making everyone look at him, while he takes a few steps closer to the boys, his arms crossed under his chest, "you are here because you have killed people."  
  
The entire hall falls silent.  
  
"Except only one, every person in this room has killed people. There used to be a hundred and one people. All sixty one of them have been killed by us. Because if they weren't killed, we would not have been standing here.  
  
The ones who completed the task given by the Board in the most impressive way, retained their memories of their journey in the arena, while the other qualifiers had their memories cleared. The Board makes the repeated announcement every time someone is eliminated."  
  
"What the hell is he even saying?" Lee Eunsang mutters, audible enough for Seungwoo however, following which he immediately says, "Lee Eunsang, keep your eyes open no matter what and hold your breath."  
  
Eunsang falls to the ground, screaming as the pain in his temples makes his body go cold. The boys around him get down to help him but Seungwoo stops them, the screams of Eunsang echoing.  
  
"He will be able to take care of himself," Seungwoo says, making another voice from the crowd -Hwang Yunseong- say, "you want us to watch him suffer?"  
  
"He's one of the strongest here," Seungwoo says, "he will be fine."  
  
Junho looks at Yunseong, the latter has his hands in fists, eyes at the boy still screaming.  
  
The entire hall falls silent except those of Eunsang, Lee Jinhyuk stepping in, trying to hold him stable while asking him to open his eyes, Seungyeon clearing his throat before asking everyone to pay attention to what Seungwoo and he had to say.  
  
"Are you even for real?"  
  
Eyes turn towards Yunseong as he asks the question loud and clear, "I don't know why we're being punished for asking questions and being skeptical about this bizarre place and situation. Whoever this Board is, that you," he points towards Seungwoo, "mentioned of, I'm not scared. If they're going to punish me for speaking up, let them. I prefer being punished rather than following the three of you like a dummy."  
  
Yunseong waits for something to hit him any moment, while the screams of Eunsang subside, but nothing comes for him. The boys have a defensive position as they are ready to help, in case Yunseong crumbles down to the floor.  
  
"You're not going to be effected," Seungyeon says, his voice still has the kind tinge to it, making Hangyul wonder how he does that while being blatant with his choice of words, "you're being collectively protected by the thirty nine of us."  
  
Hangyul is about to open his mouth and say something when Eunsang stands up with Jinhyuk on the side, but gets interrupted by Dongpyo "there are a lot of questions that we have, and we want you to answer those and clear it out for us."  
  
Seungwoo nods, "we're always willing to help."  
  
Dongpyo goes first. "What is this place?"  
  
"This place is called Inferno. It's an endless arena, the environment changing with every task that comes up. When a task is being given, we are competed against each other. The winners survive. The rest get eliminated," Seungwoo sees gazes shift towards Seobin, "Every person who's been eliminated was declared so after being dead."  
  
"It's not necessary to voluntarily kill someone after being declared the winner then?" Hyeongjun asks, making Mingyu look at him, "anyone losing can die as per the rule and get eliminated?"  
  
Seungwoo shakes his head, "no. There was this one time, that involved Kang Minhee and Yoon Junghwan," Junho feels his heartbeat increasing when Seungwoo mentions his roommates, who were apparently already dead, "Yoon Junghwan had won against Kang Minhee, and was completely devasted by the outcome because the two of them were roommates. Junghwan didn't attack Minhee since during the task, he had already won. But the list of boys being eliminated didn't come by that night. The next day after the hooter went off, the list was displayed on the screen, and both of them were up there. It showed that Minhee was eliminated and Junghwan was disqualified."  
  
"What happens after one is eliminated?" Dongpyo asks, making Seungwoo look at him for a fleeting second before looking away.  
  
"You've seen the trees next to the shelters, right? They're hanged at their respective shelter trees," Seungwoo says, multiple gasps sounds, Yohan's hand automatically reaching out to hold Hyeongjun's shoulder, Yunseong looks at Eunsang as he hears the boy say, "there's a Kim Dongbin overhead" under his breath, considering how the two of them are roommates.  
  
"The bodies are visible after eleven in the night," Seungyeon continues, "once you leave the centre, you will see all the bodies hanging."  
  
The hall falls silent again, Seungwoo looking at Wooseok, as if personally wanting him to speak up.  
  
"Why is this happening?" Jinhyuk asks, his ears red, "why are we here in the first place? Who is the Board? Why are our memories erased? Why do we have to kill anyone at all?"  
  
"Nobody knows," Seungyeon says, "why we are here, who the Board is, why we don't remember anything, why we have to kill others to be breathing, nobody knows. We're as dreaded and confused about this as much as you. Having the memories of the arena is too disheartening. So many things have happened here-"  
  
"Why should we trust you?"  
  
When Kim Wooseok speaks up, the boys have their gazes shifted towards him, surprised as to hear him say anything other than the instructions he gave out for Choi Byungchan, the voice so stoic and cold that if not for his ears turning red, they'd consider his question as something he read out from a script.  
  
Eyes turn towards the front as Seobin stands in front of the crowd for the first time, as a way of addressing everyone in the hall. "We don't have a reason to lie to you. You're going to eventually get a task by the Board. You will be forced to comply. It's totally up to you if you consider us not genuine. We did not want you to learn it the hard way, although," he suddenly turns towards Song Yuvin, "you are going to have one of the worst experiences again because you never listen."  
  
Yuvin has his forehead creased as he looks at Seobin, tilting his neck to the side, letting out a scoff, "what is your problem?"  
  
"My problem is that Choi Suhwan, Joo Chang Uk and Baek Jin died because of you," Seobin says, "and not because of the rule, but because you backstabbed them."  
  
"What is wrong with you, seriously?" Yuvin takes a step towards him, "I don't even know any of them."  
  
"Of course you don't!" Seobin has his fist raised and ready when Jinhyuk pulls his arm back.  
  
"Can we get through one single interaction without anyone fighting or being punished or whatever that is?" Wooseok gets mildly surprised when he hears the frustration in Jinhyuk's voice, walking over to stand next to him once Jinhyuk lets go of Seobin's arm, clearing his throat as he adds to Jinhyuk's question with a repetition, "why should we trust you?"  
  
Seungyeon steps forward, "as Seobin said, we don't have a reason to lie to you. You'll find out either way. We're trying to prepare you for the future. That's all."  
  
"Earlier," Eunsang looks at Yunseong when the latter starts speaking, drawing eyes towards him, "you said Yoon Junghwan was disqualified. What happened to him?"  
  
Seungyeon remains silent for a moment, while the boys look at him curiously, except for Junho who just walks towards the back of the crowd, not really willing to listen to the answer, which Yohan notices, his eyes following Junho's movements.  
  
"Yoon Junghwan was beheaded, burned and hanged at the community centre as a reminder to what happens if you go against the rules."  
  
"All he did was not kill his friend," Mingyu's voice has a treble, making Hyeongjun look at him, "what did he do so wrong to be treated like that?"  
  
"It's tragic," Seungyeon clasps his hands together involuntarily, as he continues to speak, "but you can't go against the rules."  
  
The clock says eleven forty three by the time the boys decide they need some time to comprehend the information for the day, and that they can come to the three -Seungyeon, Seungwoo and Seobin- whenever they want.  
  
Seungyeon leads the way out, the first thing that Junho sees is the pair of legs hanging, naked damaged skin, muscles showing at some places, with a metalic chain around the chest, going under the arms, along a similarly burned neck and that's it.  
  
The body is beheaded.  
  
Someone let's out a scream from the crowd, multiple gasps and curses sounding as they see the name 'Yoon Junghwan' hanging from his left foot, tied with a metalic chain around his ankle.  
  
Hyeongjun lets out a cry once he takes a look at all the bodies hanging on the branches of the trees next to the shelters, "this is too cruel."  
  
"Well, that is Inferno for you."  
  
That's the last thing they hear Seobin say before he sprints towards the cluster of shelters, leaving the even more infuriated and confused crowd behind.  
  
\--  
  
Seungwoo looks up when the light to the shelter gets obstructed, seeing Hwang Yunseong standing there. He waits for the boy to take a step, the silence stretching for a bit.  
  
"Back there," Yunseong starts, "Cho Seungyeon said that I'm being protected by the thirty nine of you. What does that mean?"  
  
Seungwoo takes a step towards him, then another, the skepticism evident in his posture, fingers pulling at invisible lint on his t-shirt sleeve, "if I fall to the ground, press down on my chest and make me open my eyes anyhow."  
  
Yunseong nods.  
  
"After the last task, we were asked to choose one person we want to see survive no matter what," Seungwoo says, "and although everyone had people they wanted to save, you were unanimously voted as the most favoured."  
  
Yunseong pulls at the hem of his t-shirt. "If everyone had their own people, how was I choosen?"  
  
"You were ready to sacrifice yourself for the rest of us," Seungwoo sees Yunseong's expression change, "we were given a choice. We could either sacrifice one of us to immune ourselves to the punishments or we can save one out of us. You told us that you'd sacrifice yourself for the rest of us. You almost walked out of the community centre, but it was decided the next moment that we would rather save one than sacrifice, and hence, you were choosen. You were willing to get killed to save others, that made us decide unanimously that we wanted to save you."  
  
Yunseong stands still for a moment, not being able to comprehend what he just heard, no memories of recollection, no act of kindness and greater good coming to his mind as he stares blankly at nothing particular.  
  
"You're brave, Yunseong," when he looks at Seungwoo speak, he notices the latter's eyes flicker over something behind him before looking back at him, "don't let anyone tell you otherwise."  
  
"Who do we have here with us?" Seungyeon's voice drowns the last of Seungwoo's words, with Seungwoo stepping aside, patting Yunseong's shoulder twice before walking out of the shelter.  
  



	4. Chapter Four

Kookheon is seated on the edge of his bed, elbows rested on his knees, eyes closed, rushing his breaths, the petrified apprehension when he stepped out of the community centre and saw the bodies making a comeback. 

He tries to calm down the trembling of his hands, pressing the heel of his palms against his eyes to stop the tears forming, not having any idea of who he is, where he is from, what his life was outside of Inferno, he knows nothing.

"I can't recall anything," he had said to himself the moment he woke up, "I can't recall anything at all."

"I.." his hands make way through his hair, gripping at its root, "I am..K-Kim Kookheon." Tugging at it, he repeats, "I am Kim Kookheon. I don't remember where I am from, my family or my friends." 

He stops, a small cough irritating his throat, following which he clears his throat, with which he straightens his back, loosening his grip on his hair. "But, I am Kim Kookheon." 

With his right hand, he rubs at his cheeks roughly, "I am Kim Kookheon, and I'm going to find a way out of this place."

"You alright?" Kookheon doesn't necessarily look up immediately when he hears the question, following which Hangyul walks in and sits down on his respective bed, "you seem pale."

Kookheon takes a breath and forces up a smile when he looks at Hangyul, "yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

"Nothing," Hangyul shrugs, "Seungwoo said that we need to be at the community centre every time the hooter sounds." 

"How I wish I could get rid of Seobin," Yuvin walks in next with an irritated look across his face, plopping down on his bed as he lays back, "I don't understand his problem."

Suddenly sitting up, he looks at Kookheon and then at Hangyul, eyes widening, his index finger pointed at his temple, "do you think he's ill? Maybe, he was hit hard by this arena, and that's why he's been acting really weird and aggressive-"

"Why don't you ask him that yourself?" Kookheon suggests light heartedly to which Yuvin scrunches his nose up, saying, "I'd rather jump off a cliff than make conversation with that idiot."

\--

The two ravens are seated at the branch of the community centre when the hooter goes off, the boys forming a crowd as the ink starts working on the screen. 

'Welcome to Inferno!

We're glad to announce your task. It is something never done before in this arena but is a personal favourite.

Scavenger Hunt.

That's right, it's the scavenger hunt. 

You'll be divided into Eight teams of five members each. The task starts tomorrow at ten in the night. 

Hope you have fun!'

Eunsang frowns as he reads the entire thing thrice, before looking at Seungwoo and asking, "that's it? No more information regarding what we're looking for or maps or anything?" 

As Seungwoo is about to answer, the screen goes blank before displaying the teams.

'Team One' the screen reads, following which a picture of Son Dongpyo flashes across it. 

Eyes are fixed on the screen as the next members get revealed. 

'Lee Hangyul  
Kang Seokhwa  
Kim Sihoon  
Han Seungwoo'

Seungwoo walks over and stands next to Dongpyo, the rest following him too.

As the teams continue to get assigned, Hyeongjun wishes for only one thing, and that for Yohan and him to be in the same team no matter what. There's a sense of support and security he feels whenever he's with Yohan, something that he can't really specify.

Yohan was the first person Hyeongjun saw when he opened his eyes, the concern in his eyes was so evident. Yohan has been with him since he can remember, and in no way does he want to go against Yohan for the sake of the arena.

'Team Six:  
Song Hyeongjun' 

"Don't hesitate to kill me." Hyeongjun clutches the hem of his t-shirt, eyes forcefully focused on the screen in front of him, mind blurred by Yohan's words, "I'd want you to make it out of this place."

He doesn't respond while Yohan places his hand over Hyeongjun's head, patting twice as the members get added.

'Song Yuvin'

Yohan looks over at Yuvin who has his gaze momentarily at Hyeongjun before looking back at the screen.

'Kim Mingyu'

An involuntary, unexpected chuckle leaves Yohan's throat as he sees Mingyu's name in the same team as Hyeongjun, looking over at the boy standing alone to the left of the crowd, Mingyu's forehead creased, definitely not impressed with the presence of Hyeongjun in the line up. 

Yohan is, however, glad that the two of them are together. They might appear to be fighting all day, but the way Hyeongjun fought Mingyu to convince him that dying is not the solution, Yohan's gut made him feel the history between the two to be stronger.

'Kim Yohan'

Hyeongjun turns around with the brightest smile as he looks at Yohan, the relief particularly etched on his face, that he doesn't have to compete against the only person he feels he can trust somehow. 

'Choi Seobin'

"I'm not doing this anymore! I can't be paired up in a team with him!"

"Don't flatter yourself. We can't change it." Seobin says as he walks away from the crowd, Yuvin obviously fuming because of the fact that he is in the same team as the only guy he utterly dislikes in the arena.

'Team Seven:  
Lee Jinhyuk'

Wooseok looks at Jinhyuk briefly, noticing how his hands are fisted, knuckles white.

'Kim Wooseok  
Lee Jinwoo  
Nam Dohyon  
Kim Kookheon'

Kookheon feels Hangyul's eyes on him, following which he turns his head to hold his gaze. If eyes could ask for forgiveness, his were begging. 

Before the 'Team Eight' sign could flash, the remaining five of the boys stand together in a huddle, to the right of Yuvin's team.

'Team Eight:  
Cha Junho  
Keum Donghyun  
Kim Hyunbin  
Ham Wonjin  
Koo Jungmo'

"What next?" Nam Dohyon looks at Seungyeon, raising his eyebrows, "are they going to give us any information or do we wait to be killed by one of us?"

"Let's be patient with it," Seungyeon says, "we've never been given a scavenger hunt earlier."

A loud screeching sounds, the boys immediately crouching down and holding their ears close to stop the searing sound, however failing.

When the sound stops, a picture of what looks like an urban area with concrete buildings appears, shot from above, red and blue lines drawn at the alleys. 

Below the picture are words.

'This is the arena. There are cards you have to find, each card having a hint. It will lead you to the final element.

Now, what is the fun in revealing the final element, right?

Also, to make it more happening, there are cards with punishment too.

As always, do your best!'

The ravens disappear from the branch, as well as the words, except the upward shot of the buildings, a loud scoff sounding, "wow," Yuvin says, "I have never read anything more vague than that."

Eyes turn towards Seungwoo and Seungyeon as the boys ask for an explanation, to which Seungyeon practically shrugs, telling them he has no idea regarding it or how the hunt is going to unfold. The only thing Seungwoo says to them is to hold onto their lives however they can.

The boys move to the shelters, each team having their own discussion.

Jinhyuk's team is one of the most silent groups, the five of them not necessarily in the mood to form a strategy. When the atmosphere gets even more gloomy, the youngest seeming boy speaks up for the first time.

"Everyone," he says, making Wooseok eye him, seeing which Jinwoo gulps, being intimidated. He looks away from him to Dohyon, while Kookheon gives him a small encouraging smile, "let's survive, okay? We'll have to make it till the last eleven."

\--

Back in their shelter, Yohan looks at the four boys seated around him on the floor, the angry glances and long drawn frustrated silence saturating the air. 

Clearing his throat once, Yohan looks at Hyeongjun, trying to get his attention but the curly haired boy is too busy glaring at someone else. 

He clears his throat again, a little aggressively. 

Hyeongjun still doesn't take the hint.

"Oh my- can you all stop it already?"

The four of them frown collectively, making Yohan hyper, extending his arm and pointing at them, "Exactly! That! Stop doing that!" 

A moment passes, Yohan frozen in his posture, hand still pointed at the four boys in front of him when Mingyu slowly, very slowly leans forward, his voice small as he asks, tone lined with concern and curiosity, "Are you alright?"

Looking at Mingyu swiftly, Yohan's mouth curves upto a big mocking smile, eyes wrinkling as he replies, "no."

Mingyu doesn't register the mock, following which he gets really concerned, wrapping his hand around Yohan's arm and pulling it down, "do you want to talk about it?"

A frustrated muffled groan sounds, hearing which Mingyu turns back to see Yuvin dragging his palm down his face, after which he says, "this entire team is such a mess."

Yuvin looks up at Mingyu, "you idiot, sit back, we have things to discuss."

"Be polite," Hyeongjun has his eyes at Yuvin as he speaks, "you don't even know him."

"Do you think we have time to be polite?" Seobin asks as he looks at Hyeongjun, "half of us would be dead by tomorrow. It can be us if we don't plan something out." 

"Being polite might actually convince us that we need to help save each other, in case you thought teamwork had no importance," Hyeongjun says, following which Seobin is ready to charge at the former. 

However, before Seobin could hit Hyeongjun, Mingyu places himself between the two, taking the hit on the left side of his face.

Hyeongjun gasps, Seobin retracts.

Mingyu shifts slightly to look at Hyeongjun, his entire face red from the shock of the punch, the right of his mouth twitching, forming into a small lopsided smile.

Hyeongjun gets up, pulling Mingyu by his arm to make him stand forcefully. Mingyu raises his hand slightly to touch his cheek, but stops seeing Hyeongjun glaring him up.

Yohan gets up too, walking closer to Mingyu to take a look at his face when Hyeongjun stands to the side, eyes at Seobin. 

Seobin has his gaze lowered and at the floor, regret filling him up, as he looks at his hands. "You know," he looks up when he hears Hyeongjun speak, the others doing the same, "I don't remember anything prior to the last two days, but I'm sure I might have hated you anyway."

With that, Hyeongjun leaves the shelter with his grip on Mingyu's wrist and pulling him along with.


End file.
